Super Bowl L Awarded To … San Francisco

You sunk my battleship! The Miami Dolphins, who couldn’t get funding for a new stadium but did have plans to play the Super Bowl on an aircraft carrier, lost their bid to host Super Bowl L in 2016: San Francisco will get the game as per a vote of NFL owners just moments ago. They actually had a Super Bowl selection show, in case you didn’t know. I sent out invitations but no one came to my Super Bowl selection show party.

Then, the owners voted on the 2017 Super Bowl site — Super Bowl LI. Miami also lost that one, with the game being awarded to Houston.

Both came on the first ballot (75 percent of the owners must agree for the game to be awarded). The last time a Super Bowl was awarded on the first ballot was ten years ago, when Glendale, AZ got the game.

Quite a turn of events in San Francisco, whose new stadium in Santa Clara will be ready in 2014. Right now they’re playing in Candlestick Park, which is also state-of-the-art — if you’re living in the post-apocalypse.

Another fun fact: No NFL team has played in a Super Bowl hosted by its own city. The closest was San Francisco for Super Bowl XIX in 1985, when the game was played at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, which is about 30 miles south.

The 49ers beat the Dolphins that year, who were quarterbacked of course by Dan Marino. And Marino was part of the Miami group making the bid for the 2016 and ’17 Super Bowls. Next time maybe they’ll get Bob Griese?

“Congratulations to San Francisco and Houston on Super Bowl L and LI. However, we don’t think there’s a better place in the country to host Super Bowl than right here in South Florida. I am grateful for the hard work and creative energy that the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee showed in their bid. Today’s decision doesn’t dampen our enthusiasm to pursue Super Bowls in the future, since we are steadfast in our belief that those games are good for the South Florida community.”

Houston will host Super Bowl LI. Nobody taking their talents to South Beach.